Singing Lies in Church

Aiden W. Tozer once said, “Christians don’t tell lies–they just go to church and sing them!” This is one of those quotes that jolt us to the core once it is properly understood. Without context, however, many people misunderstand what he is saying because they immediately begin to think of hymns and worship songs with bad theology, and there are plenty of song lyrics we sing that should cause us to scratch our heads, such as

“Like a rose, trampled on the ground, you took the fall and THOUGHT OF ME ABOVE ALL.”

and

“So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss.”

These types of lyrics deserve closer scrutiny, but Tozer was really getting at the fact that we often sing songs that do not coincide with our actual spiritual state. We often sing:

“I am a tree bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.”

When, in fact, our hearts are hard and unmoved by the cross as we sing. Or we will sing:

“Where You go, I’ll go
Where You stay, I’ll stay
When You move, I’ll move
I will follow… “

Then, we plan to live like the world on Monday.

We could go on exposing lyrics we regularly sing that we often have no intention of living out in our actual lives or are contrary to the state of our hearts.

This hypocrisy is no small matter in the eyes of the Lord. He desires truth in the inward parts (Psalm 51:6). There should be integrity and sincerity in all that we do and say, especially when it comes to worshipping the King of Kings. Jesus pointed this out when he said:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. -Matthew 23:27-27.

If you read this article and think, “I’m glad I don’t do that,” as if you somehow escape unscathed, you have entirely missed the point. We are all guilty of this. We all fall short and cannot worship God properly in our own strength.

The Christian life must be one of constant repentance. This truth should also remind us that it is usually better, in our worship, to sing about God and what he has done instead of singing about ourselves. But leaving out the effects of the Gospel on our lives and our response to it would portray a truncated picture, for as Michael Horton says, “The Gospel is not ABOUT you, but it is FOR you.”

Our songs should exhibit our response as well. The Gospel impacts us and changes our hearts, but we should never forget that even our worship is tinged with sinfulness. This recognition of our sinfulness should direct us even more firmly to praise Jesus, who offers us forgiveness and continues to beckon our sinful selves to approach the throne of grace confidently. However, as we come to Him, we must never forget, as Charles Spurgeon pointed out, that the “throne of grace” leads us to three essential truths.

1. It is a throne, so we should not approach it flippantly or without sincerity.
2. It is a throne of grace in the sense that we do not deserve to approach it at all. None of us are worthy, and we must not approach it presumptuously.
3. It is a throne of grace in the sense that, though we are unworthy to approach His throne, that is the very reason we need to draw near. It is here we find the forgiveness we need and the undeserved favor we so desperately desire.

If we prepare our hearts by remembering each of these points before we begin to sing to the Lord, it may just help us all to sing fewer lies in our times of worship.

-D. Eaton